GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A UF Law professor’s scholarship has been cited in a decision earlier this month by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld an earlier ruling that declared Oklahoma’s gay-marriage ban unconstitutional.

The article discusses inadequacies with the suspect class doctrine, which is often used “to balance institutional concerns with the protection of important constitutional rights,” according to Hutchinson’s abstract. It also proposes, “two alternative approaches that could inform a new theory of equal protection for all subordinate classes.”

While the court’s decision in Bishop v. Barton does declare Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, gay marriage remains illegal in the state because the appeals court has put the ruling on hold pending further appeal.

Hutchinson is available to discuss the court’s decision, as well as key issues surrounding same-sex marriage in Florida and the United States.

]]>http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2014/07/28/uf-law-professors-scholarship-cited-in-federal-same-sex-marriage-case-available-to-discuss/feed/0South African freedom fighter to address gay marriage at UF Lawhttp://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2013/03/25/south-african-freedom-fighter-to-address-gay-marriage-at-uf-law/
http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2013/03/25/south-african-freedom-fighter-to-address-gay-marriage-at-uf-law/#commentsMon, 25 Mar 2013 13:43:38 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/?p=2531GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Albie Sachs, retired justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and life-long freedom fighter in the struggle against apartheid, will be speaking about gay marriage at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, Tuesday, March 26 – the same day the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case challenging California’s ban on gay marriage.

“Gay Marriage and the Promise of Equality” will be at noon in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180, with a book signing immediately following. The talk is free and open to the public. Parking restrictions in the green areas at the law school will be lifted for the event.

Sachs’ career as a human rights activist started in his student days at the University of Cape Town, when he took part in the Defiance of Unjust Laws Campaign. He devoted his law practice to defending people charged under racist statutes and repressive security laws. Many faced the death sentence. He himself was raided by the security police, subjected to banning orders restricting his movement and eventually placed in solitary confinement without trial for two prolonged spells of detention. In 1988, Sachs was the victim of a car bomb attack carried out by South African security agents, losing an arm and the sight in one eye.

During the 1980s and early 1990s Sachs was centrally involved in drafting the African National Congress’ proposed constitution for a new democratic South Africa. As a member of the Constitutional Committee and the national executive of the ANC he took an active part in the negotiations which led to South Africa becoming a constitutional democracy. He was appointed by President Nelson Mandela in 1994 to serve on the newly established Constitutional Court, and in 2005 he authored the court’s landmark decision requiring legal recognition of gay marriage in South Africa.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Albie Sachs speak at UF,” said UF Law Senior Legal Skills Professor Joseph Jackson. “He’s a remarkable person and a major player in the constitutional transformation of South Africa, who has helped that country heal the divisions of the past.”

Sachs’ talk is co-sponsored by UF Law’s Center on Children and Families and UF’s Center for African Studies.

Sachs will also be giving a talk at the Center for African Studies at 4 p.m. titled, “Combating Corruption: Kenya’s Efforts to Judge its Judges.” Visit the African Studies website for complete details, http://web.africa.ufl.edu/.

]]>http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2013/03/25/south-african-freedom-fighter-to-address-gay-marriage-at-uf-law/feed/0UF Law experts available to speak on U.S. Supreme Court cases on gay marriagehttp://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2013/03/20/uf-law-experts-available-to-speak-on-u-s-supreme-court-cases-on-gay-marriage/
http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/2013/03/20/uf-law-experts-available-to-speak-on-u-s-supreme-court-cases-on-gay-marriage/#commentsWed, 20 Mar 2013 19:57:02 +0000http://www.law.ufl.edu/news/?p=2526GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments for two cases on gay marriage next Tuesday and Wednesday. One challenges California’s Proposition 8, which states that only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized in the state. The other looks at the national Defense of Marriage Act, which also bans gay marriage.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law experts are available to comment on the legal issues raised by the upcoming cases.

Hutchinson is a visiting professor at UF Law and will join the faculty full time in the fall. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of constitutional law, racial justice, LGBT rights, and other civil rights issues. Hutchinson has written extensively about questions of racial inequality, sexual orientation and constitutional law. He has delivered numerous lectures at law schools and universities in the United States and abroad, and has published articles in some of the nation’s leading legal periodicals.

Jackson is a senior legal skills professor at UF Law and associate director of the Center on Children and Families. In addition to gay and lesbian family law issues such as adoption and same-sex marriage, Jackson’s expertise extends to issues surrounding homelessness and restrictions on the provision of services to those in need.

Rush is UF Law’s associate dean for faculty development, the Irving Cypen Professor of Law, associate director for the Center on Children and Families, and co-founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations. Her areas of scholarship and teaching include constitutional law and comparative civil rights.